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When he was appointed chief executive of the drugs and chemicals giant Bayer last month, after 28 years with the company, Werner Baumann told investors he saw “no need for a fundamental change in strategy”. They expected him to continue the work of his predecessor, Marijn Dekkers.

In Teutonic style, he had cautiously repositioned one of Germany’s industrial stalwarts in readiness for the next agricultural revolution. Gradually, Leverkusen-based Bayer had built up its crop science unit, developing pesticides and fertilisers, and engineering new seeds in the hope of capitalising on growing populations and a more unpredictable climate.

Dekkers envisaged a balanced portfolio of products, where chemicals...